At Mint on the Avenue Salon, we love what we do every day—it is truly a privilege to serve our guests and our community at large. We recently were honored to learn that our brand and leaders have won three industry awards—Orlando Style voted us #1 Readers’ Choice, our Feed My Lips blog won an award from Salon Today, and our owner Vanessa Minter was named Woman of the Year by Orlando Style. We wanted to share these honors with our community, because we want to make our guests proud to be a part of the Mint on the Avenue family. And really, these awards are all because of you—so thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.
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A COMMUNITY-DRIVEN SALON
Even before she became a co-owner of Mint on the Avenue Salon, Vanessa Minter believed in the power of beauty and self-care to change lives and build community. Since taking over ownership of the salon, she has used her role to fulfill that vision through various efforts, both big and small. Whether it’s through giving a frazzled new mom an hour of peace and pampering, or through closing down the salon for a day to host fundraisers for cancer patients, we believe there is always a way to reach out and use our power and influence to make a difference in our world.
HEALING AS HAIRDRESSERS
Our specialty is hair and beauty, but the ripple effects of our work extend beyond that—we believe we actually have the ability to help people heal. This is why we are honored to participate in various community events that do just that. One example was the Pink Off Park event, which raises money for breast cancer research at the Florida Hospital for Women. Our team offered pink glitter roots, glitter beards, extensions and haircuts for attendees—all for donations to this worthy cause. Then, we opened our salon doors for breast cancer survivors to come and get their hair and makeup done for a runway event—it was a joy to help them feel gorgeous and fabulous.
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We also support women who are losing their hair to chemotherapy at the salon. We can shave their head, help them pick a wig, color it, cut and style it for them, all at no cost. If a cancer patient wants to come in for this service but can’t be in the salon during normal business hours because of germs, we will have them in on Mondays when we are closed, so they won’t be as exposed. We know that losing your hair is a vulnerable and emotional experience, so we incorporate healing and peaceful practices into these services—such as leading deep breathing, meditation and stress-relieving rituals. These warriors often leave feeling uplifted, smiling and brave—so we call this the Warrior Haircut.
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Another event close to our hearts is the Bowties and Butterflies gala, which raises money for the organization that supports mothers who have lost their children. It’s an honor to invite these mothers into our salon and have our team do their hair and makeup while they show us photos of their children, celebrating their lives together.
In working with these organizations, we know we are the ones that are truly blessed—we receive so much inspiration, strength and energy. They give us the gift of presence, of remembering the important things in life, and they remind us to be the best versions of ourselves.
A PLACE TO FEEL AT HOME
Beyond all of this, it is important to us that Bangz feels like a place where you can come in, relax and feel completely at home. We love when guests stop by for some Aveda Comforting Tea or a homemade cappuccino or espresso to de-stress during the workday. We also offer complimentary stress-relieving rituals for our regular guests, even if they don’t have a service booked that day, because it is truly our pleasure to offer a moment of wellness.
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We don’t give back to win awards, but it does feel good to be recognized by our community for the work that is so close to our hearts. We want to offer a heartfelt thank you to all of you who voted us the #1 Readers’ Choice salon, and we promise to keep earning that title. Please stop by to celebrate with us (and grab some of that comforting tea), and let us offer you a moment of peace in return. See you soon!
